Sunday, April 7, 2013

Cucumber cake (or 'dhondas')

This is something which my mother has been making for us since our childhood and has been my favorite from that time. It may be made as a dessert but as kids we used to eat it as a kind of snack.It is a konkani/goan dish.

Ingredients :

1 Cucumber (the long and big one which generally has bigger seeds)

grated jaggery (roughly equivalent to the amount of grated cucumber)

Rice rawa / idli rawa about the same amount as the grated cucumber. (even upma rawa can be used though it may not taste as good as rice rawa)

salt (for taste, 1 pinch is generally enough)

cashews and sliced almonds (for garnishing)

ghee/unsalted butter (about 1 spoon)

Method :

In a frying pan add 1 spoon of ghee/unsalted butter and pour the rawa into it. Roast the rawa on medium heat till it turns light golden brown.

Mix the grated cucumber and jaggery well and add a pinch of salt to the mixture.Add the roasted rawa to this mixture.

Heat the mixture in a vessel (alternatively you can use the pressure cooker) till the jaggery all melts.

Add the cashews and sliced almonds (you can also add some grated coconut if you like)

In a baking pan apply a coat of ghee/unsalted butter and add the mixture to it . Add some more cashews and almonds as garnishing.

Keep the baking pan in the oven (you can also use a normal microwave as it is not essential to grill this cake) and bake. Around 10 minutes time is generally sufficient. But, to be sure you can insert a knife or fork in the cake and see if it comes without anything sticking to it. This means that the cake is ready. Give it some time to cool off and your dessert is ready :)